Nymex Pursuing Oil-futures Trading Link With London

The New York Mercantile Exchange said Thursday that it will pursue a trading link with a London exchange and an evening trading session for oil futures.

Exchange officials will proceed with negotiations toward a link with the International Petroleum Exchange in London, said NYMEX`s president, Rosemary McFadden.

Meanwhile, a Chicago Board of Trade official said that exchange`s talks with the London International Financial Futures Exchange were ``rapidly coming to a conclusion.``

A joint trading agreement might be presented to the boards of the CBOT and the London exchange in the next 30 days, said Frederick Grede, a CBOT vice president.

The overseas linkages would be aimed at attracting more international business in early morning hours when the U.S. exchanges are closed.

NYMEX, the leading exchange trading futures on crude oil and other energy contracts, doesn`t open for business until the latter half of the business day in Western Europe.

To capture more trading from the Far East, NYMEX`s staff will begin work on administrative details and regulatory applications necessary to launch an evening session, McFadden said. The night hours probably would be several months away.

Although NYMEX board members gave the green light for the preparations, further approval from exchange members would be necessary before any final action on extended hours and the link, NYMEX said.